3 ms·

While this looks interesting I'd like technology to make graphing more accessible to blind students. I switched from computer science to telecommunications beca

by jareds 2y ago

While this looks interesting I'd like technology to make graphing more accessible to blind students. I switched from computer science to telecommunications because the graphs got complicated enough in Calc II that I couldn't pass the class. Calc III would have only been worse. Maybe new resources exist but this was over a decade ago.

tdeck 1y ago
You might find this R library interesting - I ran across it recently but haven't tried it myself: https://github.com/jooyoungseo/tactileR https://github.com/jooyoungseo/tactileR Unfortunately it does still require you to have a swell touch machine and swell touch paper, neither of which are particularly cheap.
- LoganDark 1y ago
  > Unfortunately it does still require you to have a swell touch machine and swell touch paper, neither of which are particularly cheap. I had a look online and they don't look too expensive: 'only' 3-4x the cost of a regular printer. Accessibility typically always has a high price (for stupid reasons, but still) but this isn't the highest I've seen... "Heartwarming! This 2-year-old's family couldn't afford his $20,000 electric wheelchair, and their insurance didn't cover it. So, a high school robotics team burned down the insurer's headquarters"
- trhway 1y ago
  >Unfortunately it does still require you to have a swell touch machine and swell touch paper, neither of which are particularly cheap. i wonder if a typical children 3d pen, or the likes - ie. dispensing quickly curing plastic thread, etc. - can be used to quickly hand-draw touch-accessible picture/graph on any surface really (or even in 3d as it is intended). A cheap 3d printer can probably be used when more complicated picture and/or several copies of it have to be done (one can probably even print a stack of copies in one run) and again having 3d may help to communicate more info for touch (and running 3d pen as the printing head instead of the standard thermoplastic head would allow to increase the speed while decreasing precision which may be fine in many situations).
  - tdeck 1y ago
    > I wonder if a typical children 3d pen, or the likes - ie. dispensing quickly curing plastic thread, etc. - can be used to quickly hand-draw touch-accessible picture/graph on any surface really (or even in 3d as it is intended) Yes, there are a number of ways to make accessible graphics and this is one of them, although I don't see educators using it as often. Here's a study I read about blind people using a 3D pen to make drawings themselves (you can get it on SciHub if you're curious): https://doi.org/10.1177/0145482X20954759 https://doi.org/10.1177/0145482X20954759 > A cheap 3d printer can probably be used when more complicated picture and/or several copies of it have to be done Actually educators of blind folks are making great use of 3D printing for tactile models. This site has a lot of great links if you're interested in the topic: https://printdisability.org/about-us/accessible-graphics/3d-printing/repositories/#touch https://printdisability.org/about-us/accessible-graphics/3d-... > running 3d pen as the printing head instead of the standard thermoplastic head would allow to increase the speed while decreasing precision I doubt very much that this would work. 3D printing pens may have a wider nozzle, but they extrude more slowly and I'd imagine they also have much lower thermal output than a 3D printer because 3D pen users must frequently pause to reposition or make decisions. Essentially a 3D pen is just a very cheap, cut-down 3D printer hotend. However, you can always put a wider nozzle into an ordinary printer, and you can print on paper if you're really constrained by speed and don't want to lay down a base plate.

by jareds 2y ago

tdeck 1y ago

You might find this R library interesting - I ran across it recently but haven't tried it myself: https://github.com/jooyoungseo/tactileR https://github.com/jooyoungseo/tactileR Unfortunately it does still require you to have a swell touch machine and swell touch paper, neither of which are particularly cheap.

LoganDark 1y ago
> Unfortunately it does still require you to have a swell touch machine and swell touch paper, neither of which are particularly cheap. I had a look online and they don't look too expensive: 'only' 3-4x the cost of a regular printer. Accessibility typically always has a high price (for stupid reasons, but still) but this isn't the highest I've seen... "Heartwarming! This 2-year-old's family couldn't afford his $20,000 electric wheelchair, and their insurance didn't cover it. So, a high school robotics team burned down the insurer's headquarters"
trhway 1y ago
>Unfortunately it does still require you to have a swell touch machine and swell touch paper, neither of which are particularly cheap. i wonder if a typical children 3d pen, or the likes - ie. dispensing quickly curing plastic thread, etc. - can be used to quickly hand-draw touch-accessible picture/graph on any surface really (or even in 3d as it is intended). A cheap 3d printer can probably be used when more complicated picture and/or several copies of it have to be done (one can probably even print a stack of copies in one run) and again having 3d may help to communicate more info for touch (and running 3d pen as the printing head instead of the standard thermoplastic head would allow to increase the speed while decreasing precision which may be fine in many situations).
- tdeck 1y ago
  > I wonder if a typical children 3d pen, or the likes - ie. dispensing quickly curing plastic thread, etc. - can be used to quickly hand-draw touch-accessible picture/graph on any surface really (or even in 3d as it is intended) Yes, there are a number of ways to make accessible graphics and this is one of them, although I don't see educators using it as often. Here's a study I read about blind people using a 3D pen to make drawings themselves (you can get it on SciHub if you're curious): https://doi.org/10.1177/0145482X20954759 https://doi.org/10.1177/0145482X20954759 > A cheap 3d printer can probably be used when more complicated picture and/or several copies of it have to be done Actually educators of blind folks are making great use of 3D printing for tactile models. This site has a lot of great links if you're interested in the topic: https://printdisability.org/about-us/accessible-graphics/3d-printing/repositories/#touch https://printdisability.org/about-us/accessible-graphics/3d-... > running 3d pen as the printing head instead of the standard thermoplastic head would allow to increase the speed while decreasing precision I doubt very much that this would work. 3D printing pens may have a wider nozzle, but they extrude more slowly and I'd imagine they also have much lower thermal output than a 3D printer because 3D pen users must frequently pause to reposition or make decisions. Essentially a 3D pen is just a very cheap, cut-down 3D printer hotend. However, you can always put a wider nozzle into an ordinary printer, and you can print on paper if you're really constrained by speed and don't want to lay down a base plate.